No. 17 IU women fall to No. 2 Baylor

ST. THOMAS, U.S. Virgin Islands — As Mackenzie Holmes’ layup fell through the net with 4:59 to play, momentum seemed to be on Indiana’s side, trailing Baylor by just three.

However, it turned out to be the Hoosiers’ last gasp.

The second-ranked Bears closed the game on a 15-3 run to hand No. 17 Indiana a 77-62 loss in the second game of the Paradise Jam on Friday night.

It was a tough ending for IU, which appeared to have a chance at pulling off its second upset in as many nights after a 71-57 win over No. 5 South Carolina on Thursday.

But the inability to hit shots at a rate even approaching the tournament opener proved too much to overcome.

The Hoosiers (5-1) finished just 5-of-17 on 3-pointers and 7-of-13 on free throws.

“I felt like we got really good looks,” IU coach Teri Moren said. “We were happy in the first half to only be down eight because of the looks. As well as Brenna (Wise) shot it last night, she was short today. We still have to get (Jaelynn Penn) on track, and I thought Grace Berger had two really good back to back performances for us.

“It’s just not enough against a great Baylor team that has so many weapons.”

And while the Hoosiers were unable to consistently hit shots, the defending national champion Bears (7-0) featured a highly efficient guard trio, led by 20 points and six assists from DiDi Richards. Te’a Cooper had 17 points and nine assists, while Juicy Landrum added 10 points and nine assists.

“Like a lot of teams, when you see the ball go through the hoop, that’s something for your defense as well,” Moren said, “so I thought it affected us, our lack of being able to hit shots, affected us defensively. And I thought fatigue was a factor. A lot of those kids played a lot of minutes (Thursday) night.”

Indiana, which jumped to a 9-4 lead to start the game but trailed for the final 30-plus minutes, will look to bounce back in the tournament finale against Washington State at 5:45 tonight.

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21 comments

IU women gave 110%, but left many shots short, which I suspect was fatigue related. And they ran out of gas at the end for the same reason.
Gulbe got hurt on the last play of the game (ankle I think), and the gym felt like a morgue in the IU section.
I’m not Robert Black, but I’m worried.
Washington State win not a given, even though they have only one player from mainland USA.

The fatigue thing goes back to the coach not substituting more! That is on her. When you know you are going to play 3 games in 3 days, then you use more people, Duh!! We may not be that deep in quality players but, you have to do what you have to do even if your bench is not as deep as theirs? You simply play people to give your starters a break, it’s not rocket science! When the coach even admits in her post-game statement that fatigue was an issue, then she has to be smart enough to play other players more minutes to correct that! Baylor is a terrific team and at no time did I think we could win this game. We played them tough for 35 minutes and ran out of gas, simple as that. Hopefully, Gulbe’s injury is not to serious? Go Hoosiers!!

If that is a serious injury for Gulbe no doubt Holmes will start and we may see Noveroski get playing time. Penn is really in a rut in my opinion and is hurting this team way more than helping, she needs to get on track and help her team. There is no doubt fatigue was a factor and expected with their emotional upset win on thurs. night. Shots were short and off target. Hopefully we can get back on track with a win on saturday.

Win over SC…sosub pattern was fine=win.
Regardless, of sub pattern vs Baylor = loss
Washington State game? Does IU have enough fuel in the tank with a little sub assistance?
Gulbe last play of game is biggest disappointment.

Good strong effort . To many bad turnovers, a couple missed easy lay ups, and poor free throw shooting was the difference. Berger leads the team (by a lot) in turnovers and had 5 last night. That needs to change.
The game vs Washington State today will tell a lot about the character and resilience of this team.

Scwartzie,
Berger did well to survive the pummeling she received, let alone lead the team in scoring.
Agree the game tonight will tell a lot. Washington State got way behind quickly against Baylor and SCState, but they never gave up. We can’t assume an easy victory.

Coach Moren made the statement before the season started that Jori Allen was the most “college ready” played she had seen in years. And yet in the 2 games down in the islands she had 7 minutes against South Carolina and 8 minutes against Baylor?? Wondering what the deal is after she made that statement in the pre-season? Having watched her now since the season started, she is physical, shots pretty well with range out to 3 point line and seems to be adequate defensively, what’s up? Moren admitted fatigue was an issue against Baylor and yet a pretty good player (Allen) is not able to see the floor more than 7 or 8 minutes a game? And what is up with Warthen, she has not played in either game, injury? As I stated earlier, if fatigue is a problem, play Allen, Wilson and Warthen more minutes to give Patberg, Wise and Berger a break every now and then……our bench is not that weak!! Go Hoosiers!!

i waited a bit to comment … they are very competitive ( and good ) i said all along ,, moren number is max 8 player rotation.. regardless if she has james on the bench… i aslo said.. key should transferred… her college playing days are passing her by… and she is good.. huge minutes at a mid major… i believe moren lead her on to stay .. with hype ( moren believes its not a good look to the program with transfers.. ( feel for key )

now .. moren and staff are very good coaches.. they can take a player and make them better.. especially at the post … here is what buged the crap out of me… down by 12 with 5 seconds left and still playing to bucket ( WHY ? ) pull that ball out and end the game… instead of maybe ending the season for 10…. no chance to win.. zero ,.. nothing .. ( cardinal sin ) if gube is hurt bad.. moren is wearing that jacket..

Agree 100% about end of game and that’s what South Carolina coach did a night earlier.

T. Moren was playing what she thought were her best. 2 high level games back to back. I agree about J. Allen. Seems to me Mac is most college ready. However, J. Allen is freshman good not sure if T. Moren jumped gun on that college ready comment a little or trying to instill confidence. However, as season goes along I expect J. Allen to be a larger part an play more minutes.

I have been wondering the same thing since Moren made that statement whey she doesnt feel Allen deserves more minutes. Doesnt seem like she gets enough minutes to get in a rythem of any kind. Regardless its quite obvious what Holmes gives them and she will get better and better. Nice to hear neutral announcers impressed with her play. Against elite teams appear doesnt trust her bench enough. But I also agree with statements made that some of our players got pounded with no calls made , via Berger and Wise. Quite understandable why Moren was upset with the officials.

By pulling ball back out I mean playing game to let clock run out.
Against South Carolina in closing seconds I think AP or someone hit a 3 pointer resulting 14 point win instead of 11. This is after South Carolina coach conceded game a possession or 2 earlier. Against Baylor it backfired on Gulbe and IU ladies.

The biggest thing that happened today for IU was Berger’s injury. Hit head on floor and has concussion symtoms. Hopefully she wont miss too much time with that although she was out for the second half in todays game.